tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Friday, December 11, 1998
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Army chief meets Syrian Ministers
DUBAI, Dec 10 (PTI) — The visiting Indian Army Chief of Staff, Gen V.P. Malik, met the Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and the Defence Minister and held talks on fostering the existing ties between the armed forces of the two countries. He is scheduled to hold a high-level meeting with the Syrian side before visiting the Air College at Aleppo, the naval base at Lattakia, the higher military academy, Damascus, besides a field formation in Quneitra. India has an ongoing training programme for senior officers from developing countries at its elite National Defence College, Delhi.

Warden's murder
COIMBATORE, Dec 10 (PTI) — Three Al-Umma activists were chargesheeted today for killing a jail warden in the office of the DIG, Prisons, here in April, 1996. In the 144-page charge sheet laid before third Judicial Magistrate Amaravathy here, the Tamil Nadu crime branch CID (CBCID), probing the case, identified the involvement of Abbas, Abu Dahir and Shamsuddin, in the killing.

Lankan violence
COLOMBO, Dec 10 (AFP) — Government forces shot dead at least three Tamil Tiger rebels in fresh clashes as a minister vowed to capture a key highway from the guerrillas, the Defence Ministry said. Three members of the LTTE were killed and arms and ammunition recovered in two separate clashes in the north of the country yesterday, the ministry said in a statement.

Pak buildings
ISLAMABAD, Dec 10 (PTI) — A poor response from the prospective buyers has forced the Pakistan Government to abandon its plan to sell off a couple of government buildings, including the Prime Minister's Secretariat, to tide over to some extent the country's deepening economic crisis. In the wake of nuclear tests in May and the resultant economic sanctions, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced that he would sell off some major government buildings, including his newly built secretariat, as part of an austerity drive and also to recover some money to overcome Pakistan's economic woes.

Russian Budget
MOSCOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) — Russia's 1999 budget draft calls for $ 9.5 billion in foreign debt servicing out of a total due amount of $ 17.5 billion, Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov said today. "We intend to service our debt and count on the understanding of investors and creditors in the restructuring of both internal and external debt," Zadornov told a news conference after the government approved the draft.

BJP man hacked
HYDERABAD, Dec 10 (UNI) — A BJP activist was hacked to death allegedly by ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) workers at Ranjal village in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh yesterday. The police said here today that three TDP workers, including sarpanch Lachanna, went to the house of the BJP activist, G. Ropal Reddy, pulled him out and killed him on the spot. Old enmity could be the reason for the murder.